The Canadian Radio-TV & Telecom Commission (CRTC) will decide today (Thurs.) whether to allow satellite radio in Canada and, if so, under what conditions. There are 3 subscription radio license applications on CRTC’s table -- 2 satellite, one terrestrial. All have been incubating since a Nov. CRTC public hearing that set the Commission to wrestling in earnest with important policy calls.
The Canadian Radio-TV & Telecom Commission (CRTC) will decide today (Thurs.) whether to allow satellite radio in Canada and, if so, under what conditions. There are 3 subscription radio license applications on CRTC’s table -- 2 satellite, one terrestrial. All have been incubating since a Nov. CRTC public hearing that set the Commission to wrestling in earnest with important policy calls.
Most federal agencies aren’t taking adequate steps to combat spam, phishing and spyware, as the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requires, the Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) said Mon. Cybersecurity experts in govt. and industry were unsurprised by the report.
On June 8, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2744, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act). H.R. 2744 would provide FY 2006 funding for, among things, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FCC, as expected (CD June 6 p1), ordered the CE industry to comply with the Commission’s existing mandate deadline, barely 3 weeks off, of DTV tuners in 50% of new 25-36” sets. But there’s no enforcement plan. The FCC denied the CE industry’s petition to eliminate that deadline and moved up the deadline for 100% compliance for mid-sized TV receivers, from July 1, 2006, to March 1, 2006. The new date is the one the CE industry suggested if the 50% deadline was eliminated.
The FCC wants input on rule changes needed to implement the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act (CSEA), signed in Dec. by President Bush as part of a wider HR- 5419 legislation creating a spectrum relocation trust fund. The fund guarantees use of eligible frequency auction revenue to compensate federal agencies for moving off the 216-220 MHz, 1432-1435 MHz, 1710-1755 MHz, 2385- 2390 MHz bands. The Act requires all auctions of eligible frequencies to raise at least 110% of total estimated federal users’ relocation costs, but doesn’t define “total cash proceeds.” The Commission in a declaratory ruling Thurs. defined “total cash proceeds,” for purposes of CSEA, as “winning bids net of any applicable discounts, such as small business bidding credits.” The FCC asked for comments on possible modifications to implement CSEA and update its spectrum rules, including: (1) Revising the reserve price rule to ensure auctions of frequencies eligible under SCEA aren’t concluded without raising 110% of the estimated federal user relocation costs. (2) Options for preserving availability of tribal land bidding credits in eligible frequencies auctions. (3) Increasing FCC discretion with respect to amounts of interim bid withdrawal and additional default payments. (4) Setting procedures in advance of each auction for apportioning bid amounts among licenses in a package. (5) Changing payment rules and procedures for broadcast construction permits won at auction to conform to those for non-broadcast licenses. (6) Facilitating use of small business consortia. The action moves the Commission closer to auctioning spectrum for advanced wireless services (AWS), the agency said. The 1710-1755 MHz band accounts for half the spectrum the Commission plans to auction as early as June 2006 for AWS, including 3G services. Wireless Bureau interim chief Catherine Seidel told reporters the FCC is “on target for the June 2006 [AWS] auction date but there are a number of things that need to happen between now and then, [especially] acting on reconsideration petitions” pending before the Commission. The FCC is expected to act on petitions for reconsideration of the AWS I (1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz) rules in the next couple of months, sources said. NTIA is expected to notify the FCC in Dec.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice stating that, at the request of Japan, a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel (DSP) is reviewing the U.S.' use of "zeroing" in antidumping (AD) proceedings and certain related matters.
MANCHESTER, U.K. -- The Internet is a powerful communication tool, but it’s also a threat to traditional business, speakers said Thurs. at an Internet Services Providers’ Assn. (ISPA) U.K. seminar here. In addition to sparking obvious dangers such as cybercrime and security breaches, the Internet is upending time-honored business models and roiling legal theory, they said. The U.K., at least, is “going from nowhere to somewhere very unfamiliar, very fast,” said Stephen Speed, dir. of the Dept. of Trade & Industry’s communications & content industries unit.
The FCC, as expected (CED June 6 p1), ordered the CE industry essentially in 3 weeks to comply with the Commission’s existing DTV tuner mandate deadline for DTV tuners in 50% of new 25-36” sets, but without an enforcement plan, as had been expected. The FCC also denied the CE industry’s petition to eliminate that deadline and moved up the deadline for 100% compliance for mid-sized TV receivers from July 1, 2006, to March 1, 2006. Ironically, the new date is one the CE industry had suggested as a goodwill tradeoff for eliminating the 50% deadline.
With universal service fund (USF) charges soaring for wireline and wireless carriers alike, the Bells, long- distance providers, rural phone companies, mobile carriers and cable TV operators are pressing for changes in the funding formula. But that’s where agreement ends.